Slovenia has unveiled its roster for the upcoming FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, with Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic on the list. Doncic himself has committed to joining the team, health permitting, after the finish of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.
Set to take place in Piraeus from July 2 to July 7, the tournament poses a scheduling challenge for Doncic, whose NBA season has been grueling. Despite a growing list of Luka’s injuries, Slovenia’s focus remains only on assembling the strongest squad possible.
“We have only one plan, to go to the Olympic Qualifiers with the strongest team,” Slovenian NT head coach Aleksander Sekulic said, via Siol.net. “Nobody knows what will happen until then, so we have to adapt on the go. If we lived in worry, then we wouldn’t be able to work normally.
“Don’t worry, we will talk about it [his availability] when the finals end. We’re all rooting for him and Dallas to finish well and win the title. Then we’ll see how to prepare him or if it’s necessary training, physiotherapy… But there is certainly a lot of uncertainty in the air.
“We are counting on Luka to help us already in the preparation games, but of course, everything depends on how long the series in the NBA will be and what kind of physical condition he will be in,” Sekulic added. “We also talked with the Dallas medical staff, but there are a lot of factors that I don’t want to influence.”
Currently, 13 players are in the Slovenian NT training, with Doncic remaining in Dallas. Denver Nuggets forward Vlatko Cancar, who was recovering from a torn ACL, is also preparing, albeit on an individual program due to NBA regulations.
Just before training camp, Jaka Blazic withdrew from the list due to back issues.
“Vlatko also worked all the time in the US to join the national team,” Sekulic said. “I believe that the fitness coach and the medical staff will now prepare him so that he can help the national team. If both Vlatko and Edo [Muric] were not healthy and ready, then they wouldn’t be here. But it is true that they are not in playing shape, so now we will have to get them ready to be able to help us.”
The status of a naturalized player on the Slovenian national team had been uncertain. While various names were floated — Josh Nebo and even Daniel Gafford among them — the only American with Slovenian citizenship on the squad is Mike Tobey.
Asked about potential additions to the team, Sekulic stated, “For now, here are the players who are available. I don’t know if anyone else will join. We are currently counting on the lineup, which is here. It makes no sense to talk about something that hasn’t happened yet.”
In preparation, Slovenia will play against Lithuania (twice) and Brazil, starting on June 23.
Slovenia is placed in OQT’s Group A. They will face New Zealand and Croatia in the group stage, with a possibility of meeting Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece or Karl-Anthony Towns’ Dominican Republic in the next round.
